People

Timelines

Understanding the lead-in times needed for businesses to get up and running, helping to accurately phase the lockdown withdrawal.

As a consumer facing industry, we all recognise that public safety and confidence is crucial to reopening successfully –and the British public is more supportive than other countries of maintaining the lockdown as long as is needed to protect the NHS and save lives. Once the lockdown ends, the government has indicated that a phased approach to recovery is likely. If the lockdown ended at the start of June, we could expect to see:  Initial visits for VFR, local day trips particularly to outdoor sites and attractions. Some outdoor attractions would be ready to open quickly  Rural and coastal destinations would be the most popular, with stronger demand for selfcatering accommodation and people travelling by car. Restaurant businesses which can work with social distancing might reopen at 30-40% capacity with hotels at 10-15%,  Some outdoor events re-start (public spectacles and displays, drive-to and drive through) and some event venues re-open.  Autumn-winter 2020: return of some international travel, reopening of some theatres, exhibition and conference venues, and indoor attractions that need to make major changes to their operations, hospitality businesses build to 70% capacity, some seasonal event activity (Halloween, Christmas Fairs and New Year events), return to around 74% of business events.  2021: assumed end of social distancing measures and reopening of small/indoor venues which could not operate safely/economically at reduced capacity.  Spring-Summer 2021: outdoor events resume. Clearly the tourism industry needs a long term plan and programme of support stretching well into 2021.

The industry needs:

A standards-led approach which allows businesses and destinations to assess their ability to reopen under clear criteria.

 Rather than a blanket approach that, for example, bans all pubs and restaurants from opening until later in the year, government should take an approach which sets out clear safe operating principles and allows businesses to assess their own ability to comply both safely and economically.  Tourism relies on a wide range of product to make a destination appealing –if self-catering cottages can operate but there are no restaurants to eat in locally or attractions to visit, then a domestic trip will be less appealing and that visitor spend less likely. Cities were particularly concerned that a number of different types of businesses –hotels, restaurants, attractions, bars, public transport –would need to be open to attract visitors to city breaks  However, this approach would recognise that larger or outdoor businesses (eg zoos, gardens, larger restaurants, some pubs) may be likely to reopen earlier than smaller, indoor businesses (eg historic houses, tea rooms).  This would also allow the flexibility for the events industry to find creative ways of operating some smaller meetings and events safely before larger scale organised gatherings can be resumed. In an industry where health and safety regulations and the welfare and safe management of attendees are well established, early opportunities to stage conferences and exhibitions to test best practice, risk assessment, social distancing and adherence to public health requirements would be welcome.